Busy Lives
by CRUMPETS12
Summary: Busy Lives is a fun story revolving around Rosalind and Skye Penderwick. Rosalind is busy solving a major problem and Skye is having love issues. This original story was created by none other than Crumpet #1 and Crumpet #2. I, Crumpet #2 am writing from the point of view of Rosalind, and Crumpet #1 is writing from the point of view of Skye. We hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everyone! Crumpet #1 and I are both posting chapters, so you will always read two chapters at a time. This chapter won't be as exciting as other chapters, though. We hope you enjoy this set of chapters!**

The green grass in the backyard was slightly bending in the soft wind. It was summer, but it wasn't crazy hot. My story starts on a Sunday, the first Sunday of summer. Jeffrey would be visiting for the week and the whole family was expecting to have a good time. My three sisters and I complained to our parents that Jeffrey should stay longer, but our parents were wise and told us that Mrs. Tifton-Dupree would be very upset and would not let him stay again. So we all sighed and decided it was for the best, but no one would ever expect something like this.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! My alarm clock went off. I opened one eye then another. I yawned sleepily and then realized that Jeffrey would be arriving today. Energy sprung into my legs and I happily hit my alarm clock to turn it off. I jumped over to my closet to pick out an outfit. Then, I ran to my bathroom to do my hair. I never wear makeup when I'm at home. I quickly made my bed and ran downstairs. I would be making breakfast because Iantha and Daddys' complete focus on their jobs. They told us they were extremely close to earning a promotion! That is what got us up in the morning, especially Skye. I stirred the pancake batter furiously. But, happily. I dumped a bag of chocolate chips into the bowl, and then poured a few pancakes onto the stove. I turned up the heat and then sat at the kitchen table. Suddenly, I heard a deep groaning coming from outside. I slowly stood up. A wet nose appeared through the dog door, followed by Hound. His furry cheeks sagged and his small eyes were pink.

"What's up, buddy?" I whispered. He looked up at me.

"Where were you? Takin' a pee?" I asked. He tilted his head. I chuckled.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. It sounded like thunder. I heard Skye and Jane shouting. I yelled back up to tell them to be quiet. Finally, they had come down and were helping out with setting the table.

"Jane was babbling rudely when we came down the stairs!" Skye announced.

"I'm not sure that I want to know, but hit me with your best shot" I told Skye.

"She literally 'asked' me "If Jeffrey came for another reason" and looked directly at me while made kissy noises. Then I shoved her. That was all that yelling" Skye answered. I sighed, slapped my forehead, and shook my head. My sisters can be a pain in the butt.

After breakfast, Daddy and Iantha went back to work and I sent Batty, Jane and Skye upstairs to clean their room. Then I told Ben to try to push Hound outside so I can clean. The rest of the day included cleaning, sadly without Iantha or Daddy. They were still hard at work. Later around 1:50 PM, Iantha and Daddy came downstairs. Jeffrey would be arriving soon. We all sat in the family room fidgeting, waiting for the doorbell to ring. Finally, at 2:00 the doorbell went off. Skye was first at the door. She opened it. Behind the screen door stood a cheerful Jeffrey with his green suitcase.

"Jeffrey!" We exclaimed and ran over to the door area. Skye opened the screen door and pounced on top of him.

"Don't kill him! Mrs. Dupree would not like that!" Daddy called. Skye turned pink and stepped back.

"You look like a tomato!" I whispered to her.

"Shut up!" She hissed back.. I smirked.

"Jeffrey! How are you?" Iantha asked him, then hugged him.

"Hello, Jeffrey!" Daddy said and shook his hand. Then he picked up Jeffrey's bag and carried it to the guest room. Jane, Batty and I took turns exchanging greetings with and hugging Jeffrey. Ben said hi by friendly saying "Duck". Iantha went upstairs to work and the rest of us went upstairs to Skye's and Jane's room. We all sat down, with Ben on my lap. We just chatted. Jeffrey told us how he begged a lot to his mother to let him come and how Cagney is teaching Jeffrey more about plants. After, we all played a huge game of soccer and then had dinner. After dinner, Batty, Ben and Hound watched Ponyo upstairs, while Skye, Jane, Jeffrey and I watched Pitch Perfect. Iantha and Daddy were still working. And that's how my Sunday went.

**Hi, everyone! Crumpet #1 and I are both posting chapters, so you will always read two chapters at a time. This chapter won't be as exciting as other chapters, though. We hope you enjoy this set of chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! It's crumpet #1. I hope you liked crumpet #2's chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one!**

Chapter Two

When I woke up the next morning it was 8:15. Last night was super fun. Jeffrey was there, we played soccer, it was great. But it would've been better if the kissy noises Jane was making hadn't been replaying in the back of my head. Jeez, she could be annoying! I threw on some clothes and went downstairs. Rosalind was making breakfast and Jeffrey was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey," Jeffrey responded. Rosalind was stirring eggs so intensely that she didn't hear me.

"Last night was fun," Jeffrey said. I nodded. "Great to be away from my mom and Dexter," he added. I nodded again. Jane arrived in the kitchen, tripping while she walked, for she was scribbling in her notebook. Again.

"And although Sabrina Starr tried desperately to save the poor man, she couldn't. He fell of the cliff and into the Amazon River. No, no, no. That's not right."

"Oh good grief," I said, and rolled my eyes. Jeffrey chuckled.

"Jane," Rosalind said. "Could you please get me some plates?" Jane reluctantly put down her notebook to go help Rosalind.

"So," said Rosalind. "What's on the agenda for the day? Nothing too crazy, I hope." I rolled my eyes again.

"Yes. We are going to go burn down the whole neighborhood," I say sarcastically.

"Not funny," Rosalind warned.

"They seem to think it is," I say, jabbing a thumb at Jane and Jeffrey, both of whom were laughing. Rosalind shook her head in a tired way.

"Whatever," she sighed. "Just don't go crazy. The morning went slowly. We ate breakfast, talked, watched T.V., and did a lot of other lazy things. After lunch, however, we felt the need to do something.

"How about a walk?" Jane suggested. We all agreed to take a walk to the woods near our house. The walk there is full of talking and laughter.

"And then," Jeffrey said. "Dexter trips and falls into the pond. I swear, I could not stop laughing. I got in trouble later, but it was so worth it." We laughed at his story. Ben and Batty started singing a little song. It annoyed me, but everyone else seemed to like it. When we arrived at the edge of the wood, we stopped. I don't know why we even hesitated. We had been in there plenty of times before.

"Well, come on," I said. "Let's go in." We all walked into the woods. It started out the same way it was before, with us talking, Ben and Batty singing, the usual. However, when we got into the center of the woods, we encountered a problem.

"Hold on," said Rosalind. "Does it seem quite to you guys?" We all nodded. Then I realised that the cause of the sudden quiet was the lack of song in the air. I looked around and, to my horror, I was right.

"Batty and Ben," I said. "They're gone!" After that, chaos broke loose. Rosalind panicked, Jane went berserk, and Jeffrey and I stood there, not knowing what to do. Rosalind was the first to calm down.

"Alright," she said. "We need to find them. We should split up into pairs. I'll go with Jane, I don't want to lose anyone else. Skye, Jeffrey, will you two be okay together?" We both nodded. "Okay then," she said. "Jane and I will go retrace our steps, and you two go forward. We meet back here in 30 minutes. Let's go." Jeffrey and I took of in search of the missing party. We walked in a painful silence. Sure, Batty could be very annoying, but I didn't want to lose her. And Ben was so little! My mind began to overwork itself which stressed me out in the extreme. I think Jeffrey could tell, because he stopped in his tracks.

"Listen," he said. "I can tell you're freaking out. Don't worry though. We're gonna find them. Just think, we're looking for and eight year old and a five year old, they can't have gone that far. Just don't stress yourself out, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "Thanks." We continued to walk. It was a fruitless effort for a while, but then I heard something. It was my turn to stop dead in my tracks.

"What? What is it?" Jeffrey asked.

"Don't you hear it?" I asked in a whisper. My heart started beating at twice its normal speed.

"No, no I don't. What is it?"

"Something's growling." I looked at him. I seemed lost for a moment, but then his expression changed and I knew he heard it too. It was there, and whatever it was was coming closer. Jeffrey reached over and grabbed my hand. I gave him a weird look and slapped his wrist away.

"Sorry," he said. "Instinct."

"It doesn't matter," I said, more focused on the noise.

"What do we do?" he asked. I think for a moment before coming to my conclusion.

"Run." And we did. Very fast and very far. We ran until the sound was completely gone, not even a whisper. Panting, the two of us collapsed onto the ground. Soon after, though, I perked up.

"Oh, please don't tell me you hear something else," Jeffrey said.

"Well, I do," I said. "But this is a good sound." And it was. This was the sound of a little boy saying "Duck". Jeffrey smiled, signaling that he heard it too. We walked towards the sound. Eventually, we saw pieces of curled brown fuzz sticking out of the bushes. I sighed in relief. We had found them.

"Well hello you two," Jeffrey joked. "It's been ages!" We all walked back together. Rosalind was so relieved when we all came back in one piece. We left the woods right away, do to Jeffrey and my story of the animal we heard. When we arrived home, we ate dinner. After that we played another game of soccer. We all went to bed early that night, exhausted from the afternoon's events. That day was one that I will remember forever. At the time, however, I didn't realise that that should have been a warning. I wish I had though, because that summer was one of the busiest of my life.

**What did you think? I hope you liked them both. Please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! I am very sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Crumpet #1's story will be up a little later than mine. I hope you enjoy mine, though!**

I woke up the next morning content and cheerful. I knew that today would be a much better day than yesterday. After all, yesterday was the only time I've ever lost Batty. Maybe it was because I was also depending on Skye and Jane. Oh well. That was an awful experience and I will be much more careful so it does not happen again. Anyway, back to my morning. It was a normal morning. I got up, dressed, made my bed, and started breakfast. Even my sisters didn't fight during breakfast. It would be a good day, unlike the next. We were all cheerful, except for some reason, Iantha and Daddy. They almost seemed stressed. Hmmm. . . . But they reassured us that they are fine, so we believe them. After breakfast I wash the dishes and then play dolls with Batty. Jane is in her room working furiously on her new Sabrina Starr book, and Jeffrey is attempting to teach Skye how to play the kazoo. I doubt it will work. *Sigh* The morning continues that way until lunch.

We have lunch, and then Jeffrey, Skye, Jane, and Batty organize a soccer game. They invited our parents, but they said they were too busy. What's going on? I work on my outfit for my date tonight. I'm so excited! Tommy and I are perfect together and we love telling the world that we love each other! After lunch, I ask Iantha if she can take me out shopping. She says no again! But she gives me some money and tells me to invite Anna instead. I follow her instructions and I eventually go shopping with Anna. I tell her about how much Jeffrey has grown, and how my parents are acting really weird. But then I tell her that it's just because they are working really hard on earning their promotions. She agrees and says that must be it. After we have bought our accessories, makeup, dresses, and shoes we retire back to my house.

At about 5:00, Anna starts prepping me for my date. First, I take a refreshing shower. Then she puts this product that she bought today in my hair and blows it out with a blow dryer. She says it will look and feel light. When she shows me in the mirror, she's right. It looks like the model's hair in that commercial where they twirl and their straight but wavy hair flies out. I thank her. After, she paints my nails white with two coats. Then I put on my dress. It looks beautiful. It is pale pink with normal fabric on top, and then the bottom and top is separated by a pink ribbon. The bottom has transparent chiffon over silk cloth which are both pale pink. I pull on my leather sandals, the ones with straps leading from the toes up to an inch past the ankle. I slip on golden bangles. Anna covers my eyes and walks me over to my full length mirror. Then she uncovers them. Wow.

I stand by the front door waiting for Tommy to pick me up. He isn't late, it's just that I'm early. Finally, the doorbell rings. I answer it. Tommy stands there in a brown shirt and pants. He gapes at me as I open the door. I smile shyly at the floor.

"You look amazing. And when I say that, I mean it" He gasps. I pounce on him.

""Take care of my daughter!" Dad shouts from upstairs.

"I promise!" Tommy chuckles.

"Have fun, you two!" Iantha says and closes the door. We walk swiftly over to his mom's minivan and he opens the door for me. He is such a gentleman!

We arrive at a Japanese restaurant. I love Japanese food! We sit down and tell the waitress what we'd like to drink. Tommy grabs my hands.

"Guess what?" He asks me.

"What?" I say back.

"Did I tell you my grandpa was staying with us for awhile while his house is remodeled?" He asks.

"No, but that's great! How is he?" I ask.

"He's good thanks. But, the real thing is, is that he brought his dog, and we learned just this morning that she' s pregnant!" He squeezed my hands.

"Oh! That's wonderful! I mean, there must have been signs earlier too, right? Like was she tired? Hound's been really tired the past nine months and-" Oh no. I can't be right. I just can't be! Tommy realizes what happened too and he drops my hands. He gapes at me.

"Did-did your dog-" He stutters.

"My dog-got your grandpa's dog*gulp* pregnant!" I cup my face in my hands.

"Which means, that my dogs, will be your dogs!" He cries. For the rest of dinner, we try to piece the puzzle together, and by the time I get home I'm running to tell the rest of my family.

**Please review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Its Crumpet 1 here. I hope you all are enjoying this story, and thank you for the reviews. **

I woke up on Wednesday morning feeling refreshed. All we had planned for the day was soccer, soccer, and more soccer. I rolled out of bed and changed into regular clothes. I walked downstairs. Rosalind was making breakfast and Batty was watching her.

"Hello," I said.

"Hello," they chorused back. Jeffrey came down stairs. Batty ran over and hugged him. Rosalind smiled and I rolled my eyes. Sometimes he was just too caring. He then sat down next to me. He leaned in close to my ear.

"I saw that I roll, you know," he whispered.

"I really don't care," I whispered back. He laughed.

Jane came down soon after. By then, it was almost nine. I was about to ask a question, but Jane took the words right out of my mouth.

"Where are Daddy and Iantha?" she asked.

"Oh, they went to work early today," said Rosalind. "I hope that they get their promotions soon, they deserve it. They've been working so hard." I nodded.

"I agree," I said. We all finished our breakfast and prepared for a soccer game. The teams were Jeffrey and I versus Jane, Rosalind, and Batty. I was excited. After all, there's no soccer game better than a soccer game with Jeffrey. Before the game started we had a team meeting. Jeffrey and I began to strategize.

"I think we should always try to go towards Batty," I said. "Because she's the youngest and therefore the least experienced."

"You see, I disagree," Jeffrey said. "They probably think that we're going to do that, so they're going to have heavy back up on her."

"Oooh, that's true." We decided to each take on one of the two older players. He was guarding Rosalind, and me Jane. I thought we had a good chance of winning. The game began. They're team started with the ball. I shadowed Jane as she dribbled down the field. She took a shot, and Jeffrey blocked it. He passed it back to me. I was able to maneuver around Jane and Batty, but was blocked by Rosalind. She attempted to pass the ball back to Jane, but overshot it. It went straight to Jeffrey. He trapped it easily, and passed it to me. I was dribbling when it happened. Jane stuck out her foot to try to stop to me. This is a totally legal move, I just wasn't expecting it. I clumsily tripped over her leg, and fell into a strange position. I felt a muscle strain in my ankle. I was then laying on the ground. My ankle was in extreme pain. It didn't feel broken, but something was clearly wrong. I let out a small moan of pain. I was actually surprised that anyone heard it, but Jeffrey came running over. His alarm signaled to the others that something was wrong, so they came running too.

"Are you okay?!" Jeffrey asked. I thought that they were all over reacting. I was fine! It hardly hurt.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, exasperated. "You all are over reacting. I'm fine. I can even walk! See?" However, they didn't see. I tried to stand on my foot and ended up falling into Jeffrey's arms. I blushed furiously. Jane squealed. Gosh, what's wrong with her?! Rosalind gave her a stern look, which I appreciated.

"Sorry Skye. It's my fault you're hurt," Jane said.

"It's fine," I said, and I meant it. I really wouldn't care if it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't walk without being supported by another person.

"It's not fine," Rosalind said. "I'm gonna call Daddy and Iantha. You need to go to the doctor."

"Oh, come on! Really?!"

"Yes, really." I glared at her. My thanks was gone. I didn't want to go to the doctor, I wanted to play soccer. She ignored me, however, and called them. They came quickly, looking very alarmed.

"Skye! Are you alright?" Daddy asked, looking worried. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Either way we're taking you to the doctor. Would one of you mind coming with us, just incase?" Iantha asked.

"I'll come," Jeffery said immediately. With that, we set off for the doctor's. Jeffrey had to help me walk the whole time. I hated it. When we got there, there wasn't a long wait. The doctor was able to check out my ankle quickly.

"Oh yeah," he said. "That's a serious sprain. You should keep it wrapped for two to three days. And try to avoid any extensive exercise." I nodded, but I was upset. That meant no soccer. Daddy and Iantha went to speak to the doctor outside. I think the reason behind that was that this is about the tenth time I've come to the doctor with a sports injury. And every time I come I seem indifferent. I think that the doctor may dear for my health. And my sanity. Jeffrey and I were the only ones in the room.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I just wish that everyone would stop treating me like such a patient." I then realised the irony of saying that while at the doctor's office.

"I don't blame you." We then sat in silence. I began to ponder the reason behind everything that Jane was doing. The kissy noises, the squealing-it was just weird. Even for Jane. I knew it had to do with Jeffrey, I just wasn't sure what it was. Then it hit me. Jane liked him! She liked him, so she was trying to make it look like he liked me so nobody would suspect her. Hah. Yeah right. Jeffrey would never like a girl like me. A girl with such a big temper, a girl who couldn't control herself, a girl who wasn't sweet, or loving, or smiley. Never a girl like me. For some reason, I felt a pang in my heart at these thoughts. All of a sudden, the unbearable truth came upon me. Oh no. It wasn't Jane who liked Jeffery, it was me.

**I hope you liked this chapter. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Sorry we haven't posted in a while, but we've been VERY busy. A few of you had questions about what type of dog Heidi is, and here is the answer. She is a Pomeranian. SURPRISE!**

Yesterday was a disaster. Skye sprained her ankle and now she is all cranky because she can't play soccer. But she'll be able to take the wrap off tomorrow. Anyway, like Tuesday morning, today was normal. After breakfast, Batty, Hound, and Ben played spies in the backyard, Jane was writing, and Skye and Jeffrey were upstairs talking. Iantha and Daddy were still working; they hadn't had breakfast. I was washing the dishes. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. I put down the dish I was washing and turned off the sink. Then I dashed over to the door. I peeked out in the peephole and see that it's Tommy. I quickly open the door.

"Hi!" I greet. He's panting.

"Hey! Ummm. . . . It turns out that Heidi was pregnant for a really long time and she's having the baby right now!" Tommy gasps.

"What? Oh my gosh! What do you need me to do?" I ask.

"Well, can you bring over Hound? I'm pretty sure that he wants to be there when his sons and daughters are born!" He says.

"Oh! Of course! I'll bring him right over!" I say.

"Okay! Thanks! Got to go!" He says and runs back across the street. I shut the front door. I turn around and run to the kitchen. Oh no! Where are they? They were right here! I run upstairs to Batty's room. They're not there! I run over to Jeffrey's room.

"Is Hound in here?" I gasp.

"No, sorry. Why?" Jeffrey says.

"Hound's girlfriend is having her puppies and Hound needs to be there!" I explain. Then I run over to Jane's room.

"Where is Hound?" I demand.

"What? Under my bed" Jane says. I gasp and run over to it. I peek under. Yep. They are.

"Get out now guys!" I command.

"Why?" Batty asks.

"Because I need Hound!" I say.

""Why?" Batty says. Now she is starting to get annoying.

"I'll tell you later!" I gasp.

"No!" She stomps her foot. I glare at her.

"Fine. Hound's girlfriend is having puppies" I sigh. Hound bounded away.

"Oh my gosh! Can I come?" She falls down on her knees and puts her hands up.

"Of course not! And please stop begging, you know you can't come" I sigh and walk out of the room I dash over to Jeffrey's room and pop my head in.

""Hey. Skye you are the OAP until I get back. Okay?" I tell her.

"Why? What about Iantha or Daddy?" She asks.

"They're at a meeting and won't be home until after dinner because they have to continue working. But don't worry, I'll be back in a few hours" I turn and leave.

"A few hours?" Is the last thing I hear.

I ring the doorbell. Hound barks impatiently. I shush him. He looks up at me with a my-girlfriend-is-having-babies-and-I-need-to-be-th ere-so-don't-judge-me look. I nod.

"Oh! Hey! Great! Come in!" Nick gasps. He opens the door more. We slip inside.

"Where is everyone?" I ask as Hound starts sniffing around.

"In the garage" He answers.

"What?" I shriek.

"Shush! It's because it's too messy to happen anywhere else." He says.

"Ew!" I shriek and run away. Hound gallops behind me. Finally, I reach the garage door. I take a deep breath and push open the door. Tommy, his parents, I'm assuming the old man is his grandpa, and the vet are in the garage. I gasp. Laying on towels, is a groaning Heidi. Hound rushes over to her side. Tommy comes over and takes my hand.

"Has it happened yet?" I whisper.

"No" He replies. Tommy leads me over to some chairs set aside for the audience. His parents are sitting in two of them. Nick sits down next to his dad. Three chairs left. Tommy and I sit down.

"Oh, Rosalind. It's so good to see you. I'm glad you've come. Where is Martin or Iantha?" Tommy's mom asks.

"They had no idea that she would be giving birth today so they went to work. And now they are in a very important meeting that they can't leave" I answer.

"Well, I'm not sure anyone saw this coming. But I am very glad you are here" She takes my hand then lets go.

"You never say "I'm glad to see you" to my girlfriend! Why do you say it to Rosalind?" Nick asks angrily.

"Well, you know that I'm not very fond nor approving of your girlfriend, and Rosalind's special" She smiles at me. I laugh nervously. Suddenly, Heidi barks.

"It's happening" The vet announces. I bury my head in Tommy's shoulder, because I'd rather not watch this.

"Here they are!" I open my arms and gesture to the four puppies. After she had given birth, I ran over to my house and brought my sisters and Jeffrey over.

"Can I have one?" Batty jumps up and down.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but you already have Hound. Would you really get rid of him? I didn't think so. But, you would also let Jeffrey have one if he wanted or could have one" I explained.

"No! My puppies are not going to some stranger!" Tommy's grandpa barked.

"Now, now, Dad. That's what usually happens to puppies. And, the Penderwicks are very close, and I'm sure anyone close to them is close to us." Tommy's dad said. I mouthed a thank you to him.

"Alright" Batty sighed.

"Now, let's choose the puppies. I think it would only be fair if the Geigers got two and the Penderwicks got two. But, that means that Jeffrey might not get one or we might not get one" I said.

"No, it's alright. Robert has Heidi so he will not get a puppy, like Batty. And I am not allowing the boys to take one of these precious things because they can barely take care of their half of their room. So, you guys will get the puppies. We don't care how you distribute them" Tommy's mom said.

"I sure do! They are my puppies so I do what I want with them!" Robert said.

"Dad! Stop! You are making this conversation awkward!" Mr. Geiger scolded.

"I don't care!" Robert yelled.

"Dad! I am going to have to talk to you outside" Mr. Geiger grabbed Robert's arm and lead him outside. Robert gazed longingly at Heidi.

"Well, your parents told me that they would be out of the house until 8:00, so I insist that you five stay for dinner" Mrs. Geiger said.

"Oh, no, we couldn't. We have come for the puppies and they are born so we'll leave." I say.

"You are staying and that's final!" Tommy grabbed my hand and held it tight.

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! I hope you have been enjoying this story. Sorry we haven't updated in a while, we've been extremely busy. So, without further ado, here's six! **

It's Thursday morning. I'm still annoyed at my ankle. I want to play soccer for crying out loud! I'm trying not to think about it too much though. I'm also not trying to think about the discovery I made. I'm using distractions. The beginning of the morning goes by pretty normally. Rosalind prepared breakfast again because Daddy and Iantha are still working. Breakfast was good, and after that Batty and Ben go outside, Jane goes up to her room to write, Rosalind cleans up, and Jeffrey and I go upstairs to his room. We're talking.

"So," I say. "How's your school?"

"Oh it's great. I love it so much."

"Cool." We sit in silence for a moment.

"Do you wanna watch a movie on my laptop?"

"Sure." I run downstairs and look for a movie. I find one and grin. Oh, this will be great. I go back to him.

"Okay!" I say cheerfully. "I have one!" I show the disc to him.

"Oh no," he says. "Oh no no no. Mean Girls?! No!" I give out a mirthless laugh.

"Yes! Ha! No, but seriously I love this movie. We're watching it."

"I would never have thought that you would like something like this!"

"Every girl likes Mean Girls! Please, can we watch it?" I give him my best puppy dog eyes. He sighs.

"Okay, fine." I clap my hands. He pops in the disc. The movie begins. We're watching and laughing. I suddenly remember what my friend Jen said.

"You know a guy likes you if he's willing to watch girl movies with you." I can't help but wonder if that pertains to this moment or not. Probably not. But then he puts his arm around me.

"What? He's a good kisser!" He quickly removes his arm, looking embarrassed. Darn you movie! Such awful timing! Whatever. I really don't want to care, but I can't help it. I do. The movie continues, but then Rosalind barges into the room. Jeffrey pauses it.

"Is Hound in here?" she asks frantically.

"No," Jeffrey says. "Why?"

""His girlfriend is having puppies and he needs to be there!" She runs out.

"Wait," I said to Jeffrey. "Did she just say Hound has a girlfriend?"

"I was more preoccupied with the fact that she's having puppies," he said. We discuss this for a minute, and then Rosalind comes in again.

"Skye, you're the OAP until I get back?"

"What?! But what about Iantha and Daddy?"

"They're at a meeting and won't be back 'till late. But don't worry, I'll be back in a couple hours."

"A couple hours?" But she's already out the door. I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Oh no," I say. "I'm a terrible OAP!"

"No your not," he says. "If you hadn't been the OAP I probably would never have found out that Alec was my father, and although I didn't realise it at the time, that was probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me." I shake my head. I hear the door click. Rosalind and Hound are gone. I know for a fact that Jane went outside with Batty and Ben, so hopefully she's watching them. The phone rings downstairs. I run down to pick it up.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hello? Which one of you is this? Well, it doesn't matter. This is Jeffrey's mother." Oh great. I suddenly hear a scream. Jane's probably just tickling them.

"Hello. What do you want?" I say, a little more rudely than I intended to. But then Batty comes running in.

"Skye! Help! A skunk got into the house!"

"I'll call you back," I say, and hang up. "How did a skunk get in?"

"We had the door open, and then we saw a skunk. We hid in the bushes, and it walked into the house! I think it's in the bathroom now." Jane and Ben come in too. We all quietly walk over to the bathroom. The skunk is sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. It sees us and bolts. We all chase after it. We're making a lot of noise, and I guess Jeffrey could hear us from upstairs, so he comes down.

"What's going on?!" he asked.

"A skunk is running around the house!" Jane shrieks. We continue to chase it. We have it cornered in the kitchen.

"Okay," I whisper. "We need to act very calmly and slowly." Batty ignores me and runs forward. The skunk sprays her. It smells terrible!

"Yuck!" I say, and plug my nose. Jane and Jeffrey do the same. Baty looks like the smell has intoxicated her. Jeffrey takes this moment to grab a plate and edge the skunk out the door. He closes the door and the skunk is gone.

"Thanks," I say. "But now we have to deal with this problem." None of us know what to do get rid of the smell of skunk spray, so we just shove Batty in the shower. Jeffrey goes downstairs to see what we can do with her clothes, and Jane and I try to wash her. lt's not working. Then Jane looks out the window and shrieks.

"What?! What?!"

"Rosalind's coming back!" We know it'll look suspicious if Batty isn't there for the unveiling of the puppies. We quickly dress her in a sundress. She still smells though. I run into Rosalind's room and take all of her perfume. We spray everything we have on Batty. She now smells strongly of passion fruit, Rosalind's favorite scent, but at least not like skunk. I just hope Rosalind doesn't notice that the majority of her perfume is gone. Whatever, that's the least of our issues. We're in for a long day.

**I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for reading, and please review. **


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